Volume Three - WordPress.com — Get a Free Blog Here

"Alexis, at last," the woman said, her voice raspy, like a long-time smoker's. "We'll get such a nice reward for
you."
My eyes widened and my voice trembled. "D-do I know you?"
She grinned, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Not yet."
Or ever, if I can help it.
I turned and ran. My pulse throbbed in my head; breaths tore through my chest. My mind couldn't focus,
couldn't make sense of it, but my body kept moving. The bright lights of the commercial area I'd just come from
shone like a beacon. I ran for their safety.
The woman abruptly appeared in front of me before I was half-way down the street. The shock sent me
hurling to the ground and my head smacked hard against the pavement. Stars shot across my eyes. My hands
burned from asphalt scrapes. Fighting the blackness trying to swallow my vision, I rolled onto my side, gasping
for breath. A sticky wetness pooled under my temple.
My eyes rolled up to the woman, who now pointed some kind of stick at me. Her lips moved silently as she
waved a pattern in the air. I felt pinned to the ground, though nothing physically restrained me. Panic flailed
uselessly below the surface of my paralyzed body, making my breaths quick and shallow. I was done for. They
could do anything they wanted with me. There was no escape now.
My vision faltered. Now two women stood over me, two sticks pointed at me. Two moons wavered behind
them. I didn't know if it was fear or the head injury that caused everything to slide apart and together again. I
squeezed my eyes shut.
But I couldn't close my ears, couldn't block out the gnarl. My eyes popped open with terror. The feral sound
came from the man. His eyes rolled back, showing only whites. His hands clenched into fists. His muscles
strained, the veins protruding like ropes along the bulges. His body shook violently. The edges of his shape
became a blur.
"I can't hold it!" he growled.
"Then don't," the woman said. "Don't fight it. It's time!"
A ripping sound tore through the night as the man lurched forward, his skin shredding. A gelatinous liquid
spurt out of him like an exploding jar of jelly. His pants tore into ribbons as his body lengthened and grew. The
shape of his limbs transformed. His face elongated, his nose and mouth becoming a… Holy crap! A snout?! I
gasped, a scream stuck in my throat. By the time his front…legs…hit the ground, fur covered his body. He was
no longer man. He was wolf. A freakin' wolf?!
The wolf moved closer, a low growl in its throat. Its stench of decaying corpses and rotting leaves
overwhelmed my sensitive nose, gagging me and forcing me to breathe through my mouth.
Pop! Another woman appeared. Her pale skin glowed and her white hair shimmered in the moonlight.
"I smell blood," she said, her voice a flutter of wind chimes. "Mmm…delicious blood."
The scrapes on my hands had already healed, but not the cut on my head. It must have been deep enough
for normal people to need stitches. For me, it could take ten minutes to heal. So my blood was still fresh.
I could only smell the wolf's rancid odor as it hovered over me.
"Back off, mutt," the white-blonde snarled as she stepped closer. "This is too important for the likes of you!"
"How dare you!" Stick-woman gasped. "We had her first!"
"Alexis is mine. Always mine!"
What the hell is happening?! What do they want with me? Whoever they were, they wanted to do more than just
scare me. I could hear it in the way the blonde said I was hers. She wanted me to hurt…or worse. Cold fear slid
down my spine and hot tears burned my eyes.
Pop! A man materialized in the darkness and strode toward me. My heart jumped into my throat. Not more!
The wolf growled. Both women hissed. Goose bumps crawled along my skin.
The man stepped in front of me, placing himself between me and the others.
Good! Very good! Safe! My sense slightly calmed me.
"You're alone?" the blonde asked. "Ha! You haven't a chance."
The wolf lunged at my protector. He raised his hands and thrust them out toward the beast. It flew back as if
blasted by something unseen. I heard a thud and a whimper as it hit the pavement. I blinked several times,
disbelieving what I just saw.